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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
If you are looking for a book to transport you to the French countryside, this is your book.
If you enjoy World War II historical fiction, this is your book.
If you enjoy a little mystery mixed in, this is your book.
Ann Mah has done a beautiful job with this novel. It's riveting while still feeling cozy. I recommend this for a great summer read that is sure to make you want to eat cheese, drink wine, and/or go to France.
If you enjoy World War II historical fiction, this is your book.
If you enjoy a little mystery mixed in, this is your book.
Ann Mah has done a beautiful job with this novel. It's riveting while still feeling cozy. I recommend this for a great summer read that is sure to make you want to eat cheese, drink wine, and/or go to France.
Being a long time francophile, I instantly loved this. Add in historical WWII fiction and I'm hooked for sure. I listened to the audio version, the narration was excellent.
Historical fiction, wine, family secrets, love...what more could you want in a book?! Loved reading this ...had Emily Henry meets Kristin Hannah vibes.
Listening to the audiobook of The Lost Vintage was a great medium for taking in this story. With the amount of French language used, I found hearing it was more impactive than physically reading it. But also, the narrator did a great job in general - which is hard for me to find since I am a very picky audiobook reader.
I don’t think I fully knew what to expect going into this book but I was very pleasantly surprised. It gave me Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society vibes whenever we flashed back to Kate’s ancestor’s story and her diary entries. I did find that I was more invested in that story than I was in the ‘current day’ with Kate’s work towards her master wine test and the faint memories/rekindling of romance between her and JL. That being said, it was interesting following the journey of her uncovering the details of her family history.
Normally, I tend to avoid dual time-line narratives but I didn’t realize this story included it until I was already invested and I was pleasantly surprised. Everything that happened in the 1940’s time-line was harrowing and intriguing. The tenseness of the family dynamics and resistance plots were definitely some of my favourite aspects.
I will certainly be reading more from Ann Mah.
I don’t think I fully knew what to expect going into this book but I was very pleasantly surprised. It gave me Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society vibes whenever we flashed back to Kate’s ancestor’s story and her diary entries. I did find that I was more invested in that story than I was in the ‘current day’ with Kate’s work towards her master wine test and the faint memories/rekindling of romance between her and JL. That being said, it was interesting following the journey of her uncovering the details of her family history.
Normally, I tend to avoid dual time-line narratives but I didn’t realize this story included it until I was already invested and I was pleasantly surprised. Everything that happened in the 1940’s time-line was harrowing and intriguing. The tenseness of the family dynamics and resistance plots were definitely some of my favourite aspects.
I will certainly be reading more from Ann Mah.
I really enjoyed this novel... I admit listening to the audio at times was confusing as there are different characters and eras this encompasses, but the story is delightful. Before buying I read some reviews and people complained about the French language. Please do not be daft, al the French was explained and is perfect for this novel... it is one of the reasons I loved it!
I have read a large number of WW2 books - both nonfiction and fiction. And though this was not the most scholarly WW2 story, it was an interesting story, told from a different perspective than anything I have previously read. The aspect of "horizontal collaborators" and the punishments meted out - often by hypocritical men - was fairly new to me, and I found this story moving because of its inclusion.
I also enjoyed the present-day story of Kat, though the Kat/Jean-Luc romance was a bit cliche, and the ending could be spotted a mile away. It was certainly much sappier than what I typically read, but it was entertaining nonetheless.
I did not like the loose ends in the Jean-Luc/Louise relationship. How does he end things with her? Is she ever held accountable for her anti-Semitism or the role she played in trying to steal the family's wine legacy?
My biggest issue with this story, however, is the reaction to the news of the family's secrets. Heather's reaction ("Oh my gosh, what if my own husband is a Nazi?") made me want to shake her and say, "Oh, Sweetheart, bless your heart. Nazism - and any other form of racism - is not hereditary. It's not passed down from generation to generation like diabetes. Hatred in all its forms is a learned trait. And Nico wouldn't have married you and had two children with you if he was a Nazi." I felt her reaction was completely over the top. Even Kat's reaction to learning her family's history is a bit melodramatic. We can feel bad and even guilty about things that happened in the past that were perpetrated by our ancestors without thinking that we are personally to blame for those actions or that we have inherited those bad genes. Blame for personal racism - and in this case, personal collaboration and spying during wartime - must be placed firmly on the shoulders of the perpetrators, not their descendants. (This is not to say that we as a community or that our governments as systems are immune from doing our part to fix systemic racism and the disadvantages that have resulted from systemic racism, nor is it to say that we shouldn't call out personal racist attacks against our POC brothers and sisters.) But if my husband held it against me personally that my ancestors were racists, we wouldn't have our beautiful little boy and our wonderful life together. And if every person who is the descendent of an oppressed group blamed every descendent of the oppressors for things that happened three, four, five generations ago, we would all be a big bowl of hatred and anger and bitterness, and what miserable lives we would lead. I do appreciate that Uncle Phillippe finally says that it's time to put the past behind them. There's a sense that it's time to accept the past for what it was and move forward in love and friendship.
So although I had to roll my eyes at times, overall it was a decent read.
I also enjoyed the present-day story of Kat, though the Kat/Jean-Luc romance was a bit cliche, and the ending could be spotted a mile away. It was certainly much sappier than what I typically read, but it was entertaining nonetheless.
I did not like the loose ends in the Jean-Luc/Louise relationship. How does he end things with her? Is she ever held accountable for her anti-Semitism or the role she played in trying to steal the family's wine legacy?
My biggest issue with this story, however, is the reaction to the news of the family's secrets. Heather's reaction ("Oh my gosh, what if my own husband is a Nazi?") made me want to shake her and say, "Oh, Sweetheart, bless your heart. Nazism - and any other form of racism - is not hereditary. It's not passed down from generation to generation like diabetes. Hatred in all its forms is a learned trait. And Nico wouldn't have married you and had two children with you if he was a Nazi." I felt her reaction was completely over the top. Even Kat's reaction to learning her family's history is a bit melodramatic. We can feel bad and even guilty about things that happened in the past that were perpetrated by our ancestors without thinking that we are personally to blame for those actions or that we have inherited those bad genes. Blame for personal racism - and in this case, personal collaboration and spying during wartime - must be placed firmly on the shoulders of the perpetrators, not their descendants. (This is not to say that we as a community or that our governments as systems are immune from doing our part to fix systemic racism and the disadvantages that have resulted from systemic racism, nor is it to say that we shouldn't call out personal racist attacks against our POC brothers and sisters.) But if my husband held it against me personally that my ancestors were racists, we wouldn't have our beautiful little boy and our wonderful life together. And if every person who is the descendent of an oppressed group blamed every descendent of the oppressors for things that happened three, four, five generations ago, we would all be a big bowl of hatred and anger and bitterness, and what miserable lives we would lead. I do appreciate that Uncle Phillippe finally says that it's time to put the past behind them. There's a sense that it's time to accept the past for what it was and move forward in love and friendship.
So although I had to roll my eyes at times, overall it was a decent read.
2.75 rounded up to 3.
The quote on the front cover claiming this is for fans of The Nightingale set the expectations too high. The characters needed to be more fleshed out for me to care about them, and much of the man-to-man conflict really didn't make any sense. I also think that Mah went overboard with sprinkling in French phrases in to her characters' dialogue. I have a decent grasp of French, but even still it really didn't serve much purpose other than to remind the reader that "HEY! This book takes place in France!!!! Where they speak French!!!"
While I didn't love the book, I'm glad to have continued to work through my physical TBR shelf.
The quote on the front cover claiming this is for fans of The Nightingale set the expectations too high. The characters needed to be more fleshed out for me to care about them, and much of the man-to-man conflict really didn't make any sense. I also think that Mah went overboard with sprinkling in French phrases in to her characters' dialogue. I have a decent grasp of French, but even still it really didn't serve much purpose other than to remind the reader that "HEY! This book takes place in France!!!! Where they speak French!!!"
While I didn't love the book, I'm glad to have continued to work through my physical TBR shelf.
I quite enjoyed this book, finding both the modern day and the historical protagonist to be compelling women. I learned more about WWII and particularly about the Burgundy region of France then. I did find the end of the book a little too tidy, especially the way in which Kate and Jean-Luc reconnected. I’d have liked a lot more realism in that part.
I'm a sucker for books that tie a historic story-line and a contemporary one. Including intrigue, family, and an old love with a love of wine... wonderful.